With the proposal that ascorbic acid is beneficial in preventing and curing the common cold there will probably be an increased human consumption of this vitamin. Independent of its vitamin function, ascorbic acid is a chelating agent which may influence mineral metabolism if it is used at high dietary levels. In addition citric acid, and EDTA are strong chelating agents and are used as preservatives in foods. NTA has been proposed as a phosphate replacement in detergents and might appear in foods by environmental contamination if it were used extensively. Sugars are also chelating agents. Since it is known that chelating agents can alter mineral metabolism, we propose to study the effect of these material on the calcium metabolism of the adult male chicken which we have shown to have a requirement for calcium very similar to that of man when corrected for differences in size. The Japanese quail, Coturnix coturnix japonica will also be tested as an experimental subject since it is smaller and has a shorter period for various life processes than chicken. We propose to determine whether these materials alter the absorption of calcium and its rate of removal from the skeletal system by radioisotope techniques and to correlate these observations with those of bone composition studies after a 20 week feeding period. The mechanism of action and dietary interactios will be studied if they are found to alter calcium metabolism.